THE   PROCEEDINGS   BY  THE   STATE  OF  CONNECTICUT 
IN  COMMEMORATION   OF  THE  TERCENTENARY 
ANNIVERSARY  OF  THE   LANDING   OF 
THE  LANDING   OF  THE   PILGRIMS 
ON   PLYMOUTH  ROCK 
1620-1920 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT    LOS  ANGELES 


J0 


The  Proceedings 

by  the 

State  of  Connecticut 

in  commemoration  of  the 

Tercentenary  Anniversary 

of  the 

Landing  of  the  Pilgrims 
on  Plymouth  Rock 

1520-1920 


The  Proceedings 

by  the 

State  of  Connecticut 

in  commemoration  of  the 

Tercentenary  Anniversary 

of  the 

Landing  of  the  Pilgrims 
on  Plymouth  Rock 

1620-1920 


EXCHANGE 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

1.  Prefatory  Note 5 

2.  Program  of  public  meeting  at  Hartford,  De- 

cember 21,  1920  .  , .  . 7 

3.  Historical  Address 

^  by  Williston  Walker,  Ph.D.,  D.D.,  L.H.D., 

Provost  of  Yale  University 17 

u  * 

* 

u4.     The  "Public  Letter"  from  the  State  to  her 

• 

^  school  children 37 

3 


215 


PREFATORY  NOTE 

In  1919  a  Special  Act,  in  the  following  terms,  was 
passed  by  the  General  Assembly  of  Connecticut: 

"An  Act  making  provision  for  the  participation  by  this  State  in  a 
celebration  in  commemoration  of  the  Three  Hundredth  Anniversary 
of  the  Landing  of  the  Pilgrims  at  Plymouth  Rock. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  in 
General  Assembly  convened: 

Section  1.  A  commission  consisting  of  the  Governor  and  Lieuten- 
ant-Governor, ex  officio,  and  nine  other  members  all  to  be  appointed 
by  the  Governor,  is  raised  for  the  purpose  of  representing  this  State 
and  making  such  arrangements  and  plans  as  may  be  fitting  and 
appropriate  for  the  participation  by  this  State  in  a  celebration  of 
the  three  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims  at 
Plymouth  Rock.  Said  commission  shall  serve  without  compensation, 
but  their  necessary  expenses  shall  be  paid  by  the  State  and  it  may 
employ  such  stenographic  and  clerical  assistance  as  may  be  neces- 
sary to  carry  out  the  purposes  of  this  Act. 

Sec.  2.  The  sum  of  three  thousand  dollars,  or  so  much  thereof  as 
may  be  necessary,  is  appropriated  for  the  use  of  said  commission 
and  all  expenditures  incurred  under  the  authority  of  the  provisions 
of  this  Act  shall  be  approved  by  the  board  of  control. 

Approved  May  21,  1919." 

The  nine  members  to  serve  with  the  Governor  and 
Lieutenant-Governor  of  this  Commission  were  appointed 
by  his  Excellency,  Governor  Holcomb,  on  February  25, 
1920,  as  follows:  Simeon  E.  Baldwin,  of  New  Haven; 
Frank  B.  Weeks,  of  Middletown;  Charles  E.  Thomp- 
son, of  Hartford;  Rev.  Frederick  W.  Harriman,  of 
Windsor;  Edward  S.  Boyd,  of  Woodbury;  Charles  E. 
Gross,  of  Hartford ;  Miss  N.  Louise  Mitchell,  of  Hart- 
ford; Mrs.  Clarence  B.  Bolmer,  of  New  Haven;  Mrs. 
Sara  T.  Kinney,  of  Hartford. 


His  Excellency,  Governor  Holcomb,  having  declined, 
on  account  of  the  pressure  of  other  official  engagements, 
to  serve  as  chairman  of  the  Commission,  Simeon  E. 
Baldwin  was  appointed  to  that  position. 

The  Commission  voted  to  make  the  main  features  of 
the  celebration,  first  a  general  public  meeting  at  Hart- 
ford, on  December  21,  1920,  and,  second,  meetings  of 
school  children,  so  far  as  practicable,  in  every  school 
house  in  the  State,  during  the  preceding  school  term; 
and  on  October  1,  1920,  announced  its  action  by  a 
circular  letter  to  school  officials,  which  concluded  as 
follows : 

"At  such  meetings,  it  is  desired  that  there  may  be  one  or  more 
short  talks,  appropriate  to  the  occasion,  from  one  of  you,  with  music 
and  singing,  if  practicable,  and  other  appropriate  exercises.  A  copy 
of  a  Public  Letter  from  the  State  to  her  school  children  will  be  given 
to  each  child  present  at  any  such  meeting. 

The  Commission  requests  each  of  you  to  arrange  or  join  in 
arranging  such  a  meeting  of  the  school  or  schools  with  which  he 
is  particularly  connected." 

A  copy  of  the  "Public  Letter"  from  the  State  to 
her  school  children,  prepared  by  the  Commission,  is 
annexed  to  this  publication.  250,000  copies  were 
printed,  of  which  about  190,000  were  distributed  through 
the  schools  in  the  State,  including  eighty-four  private  or 
parochial  schools. 

Local  celebrations  of  the  tercentenary  in  these  schools 
were  quite  general. 

On  December  21,  1920,  the  general  public  meeting 
was  held  at  Parsons'  Theatre,  in  Hartford,  according 
to  the  following  program : 


1620  HMML  1920 


December  the  Twenty-first 


Celebration 

by  the 

State  of  Connecticut 

of  the 

Tercentenary  Anniversary 

of  the 

Landing  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  and  Mothers 
at  Plymouth  Rock 


"A  great  hope  and  inward  zeall  they  had  of  laying  some  good  foundation, 

or  at  least  to  make  some  way  thereunto     .     .     .     yea,  though  they  should  be 

but  even  as  stepping-stones  unto  others  for  ye  performing  of  so  great  a  work." 

— From  Bradford's  "History  of  Plymouth  Plantation,"  page  32 


CELEBRATION 

As  AUTHORIZED  BY  THE  CONNECTICUT  LEGISLATURE  OF 

1919 

IN  COMMEMORATION  OF  THE 
THREE  HUNDREDTH  ANNIVERSARY 

OF  THE 

LANDING  OF  THE  PILGRIMS  AT 

PLYMOUTH  ROCK 

1620 


Parsons  Theatre  Hartford,  Connecticut 

DECEMBER  THE  TWENTY-FIRST 
1920 

AT  TWO-THIRTY  O'CLOCK,  P.M. 


' '  Thus  out  of  smalle  beginnings  great  things  have  )>een  prodused  by  His 
hand  yt  made  all  things  of  nothing,  and  gives  being  to  all  things  that  are;  and 
as  one  smalle  candle  may  light  a  thousand,  so  ye  light  there  kindled  hath  shone 
to  many,  yea,  in  some  sorte  to  our  whole  nation." 

— From  Bradford's  "History  of  Plymouth  Plantation,"  page  332 


PROGRAM 

The  Honorable  Simeon  E.  Baldwin,  Presiding 


Singing 
By  the  Audience 

Led  by  the 

Boys'  and  Girls' 

Glee  Clubs 

of  the 

Hartford  Public 
High  School 

Ralph  L.  Baldwin 
Musical  Director 


A  Message  from  the 
State  of  Connecticut 


INVOCATION 

REVEREND  ROCKWELL  HARMON  POTTER,  D.D. 

Minister  of  the  First  Church  of  Christ  in 

Hartford,  Organized  1632 

"FOREFATHERS'  HYMN" 

Tune,  Duke  Street 

O  God,  beneath  Thy  guiding  hand, 

Our  exiled  fathers  crossed  the  sea ; 
And  when  they  trod  the  wintry  strand, 

With  prayer  and  psalm  they  worshipped  Thee. 

Thou  heard'st,  well  pleased,  the  song,  the  prayer: 
Thy  blessing  came ;   and  still  its  power 

Shall  onward,  through  all  ages,  bear 
The  memory  of  that  holy  hour. 

Laws,  freedom,  truth,  and  faith  in  God 
Came  with  those  exiles  o'er  the  waves ; 

And  where  their  pilgrim  feet  have  trod 
The  God  they  trusted  guards  their  graves. 

And  here  Thy  name,  O  God  of  Love, 
Their  children's  children  shall  adore, 

Till  these  eternal  hills  remove 

And  spring  adorns  the  earth  no  more. 

— LEONARD  BACON.     1833 

"A  PUBLIC  LETTE.R  FROM  THE  STATE  OF 

CONNECTICUT 
TO  THE  CHILDREN  OF  HER  SCHOOLS" 

Read  by 

Miss  CLARA  M.  COE 
11 


A  group  of  Melodies 

from  the 

Pilgrim  Psalm  Book 

Sung  by  the 

Glee  Clubs 


EXPLANATORY  STATEMENT 
By 

PROFESSOR  WALDO  S.  PRATT,  Mus.D. 

'BOW  DOWN  THINE  EAR/'  From  Psalm  86 

Bow  down  Thine  ear,  Jehovah,  answer  me, 

For  I  am  poor,  afflicted  and  needy. 
Keep  Thou  my  soul,  for  merciful  am  I ; 

My  God,  Thy  servant  save,  that  trusts  in  Thee. 

Jehovah,  be  Thou  gracious  to  me, 
For  all  the  day  call  unto  Thee  do  I, 

Thy  servant's  soul  rejoice  Thou  cheerfully, 
For,  Lord,  I  lift  my  soul  up  unto  Thee. 

'BY  BABEL'S  RIVERS,"  From  Psalm  187 

By  Babel's  rivers,  there  sat  we, 

Yea,  wept,  when  we  did  mind  Sion. 
The  willows  that  amidst  it  be 

Our  harps  we  hanged  them  upon. 
For  songs  of  us  there  ask  did  they 

That  had  us  captive  led  along, 
And  mirth,  they  that  us  heaps  did  lay — 

"Sing  unto  us  some  Sion's  song !" 

Jehovah's  song  how  sing  shall  we 

Within  a  foreign  people's  land? 
Jerusalem,  if  I  do  thee 

Forget,  forget  let  my  right  hand ! 
Cleave  let  my  tongue  to  my  palate, 

If  I  do  not  in  mind  thee  bear, 
If  I  Jerusalem  do  not 

Above  my  chief est  joy  prefer! 


'CONFESS  JEHOVAH," 


From  Psalm  136 


Confess  Jehovah  thankfully, 
For  He  is  good,  for  His  mercy 

Continueth  for  ever. 
To  God  of  gods  confess  do  ye, 
Because  His  bountiful  mercy 

Continueth  for  ever. 
Unto  the  Lord  of  lords  confess, 
Because  His  merciful  kindness 

Continueth  for  ever. 
To  Him  that  doth  Himself  only 
Things  wondrous  great,  for  His  mercy 

Continueth  for  ever. 

12 


Which  in  our  base  state  minded  us, 
Because  His  mercy  gracious 

Continueth  for  ever. 
And  from  our  foes  did  us  release, 
Because  His  merciful  kindness 

Continueth  for  ever. 

Which  giveth  food  unto  all  flesh, 
Because  His  merciful  kindness 

Continueth  for  ever. 
To  God  of  heavens  confess  do  ye, 
Because  His  bountiful  mercy 

Continueth  for  ever. 


Reading  of 


All  Sing 


THE  PILGRIM  COMPACT 
By 

COLONEL  CHARLES  EDWARD  THOMPSON 

Governor 
Connecticut  Society  of  Mayflower  Descendants 

"AMERICA  THE  BEAUTIFUL" 

To  the  Tune  of  Materna 

O  beautiful  for  spacious  skies, 

For  amber  waves  of  grain, 
For  purple  mountain  ma j  esties, 

Above  the  fruited  plain; 
America !    America ! 

God  shed  His  grace  on  thee, 
And  crown  thy  good  with  brotherhood, 

From  sea  to  shining  sea. 

O  beautiful  for  pilgrim  feet, 

Whose  stern,  impassioned  stress 
A  thoroughfare  for  freedom  beat 

Across  the  wilderness ; 
America !    America ! 

God  mend  thine  every  flaw, 
Confirm  thy  soul  in  self-control, 

Thy  liberty  in  law. 

O  beautiful  for  glory-tale 

Of  liberating  strife, 
When  valiantly,  for  man's  avail, 

Men  lavished  precious  life; 
America !    America ! 

May  God  thy  gold  refine, 
Till  all  success  be  nobleness, 

And  every  gain  divine. 

13 


Address  by 


Singing 
by  the 

Boys'  and  Girls' 
Glee  Clubs 


O  beautiful  for  patriot  dream 

That  sees  beyond  the  years, 
Thine  alabaster  cities  gleam, 

Undimmed  by  human  tears; 
America !    America ! 

God  shed  His  grace  on  Thee, 
And  crown  thy  good  with  brotherhood, 

From  sea  to  shining  sea. 

— KATHERINE  LEE  BATES.     1904 


PROVOST  WILLISTON  WALKER,  Ph.D.,  D.D.,  L.H.D. 
of  Yale  University 

"WHY  WE  HONOR  THE  PILGRIMS" 


(a)  "THE  VOYAGE  OF  THE  MAYFLOWER' 

Out  across  the  broad  blue  ocean, 

Daring  wind  and  wave, 
In  their  hearts  a  firm  devotion, 

Sailed  the  Pilgrims  brave. 

Calm  or  tempest  might  betide  them 

Still  with  purpose  grand 
Fared  they  on  with  faith  to  guide  them 

To  their  chosen  land. 

On  and  on  the  Mayflower  plowing 
Through  the  trackless  deep, 

Bore  the  ones  with  fervor  vowing 
Heaven's  pledge  to  keep. 

Through  the  lonely  sea  that  held  it 

In  its  mighty  scope, 
Strove  that  ship  while  truth  impelled  it 

Toward  the  land  of  hope. 

With  their  valor  tried  and  tested, 

Their  long  voyage  o'er, 
Home  at  last  the  Pilgrims  rested 

On  a  new  found  shore. 

There  they  toiled  with  faith  undaunted 

And  with  purpose  high, 
And  in  their  splendid  zeal  they  planted 
Truth  that  shall  not  die. 

— NIXON  WATERMAN 
14 


All  Sing 


(Appreciation  is  extended 

:o  Messrs.  Gallup  &  Alfred 

br  the  use  of  the  Mason 

and  Hamlin  Piano. 


(6)  "LAND  OF  OUR  HEARTS" 

Land  of  our  hearts,  upon  whose  bounteous  breast 
Earth's  weary  sons  from  many  lands  find  rest, 
Bind  us  in  love,  that  we  may  truly  be 
One  blood,  one  nation,  everlastingly. 

— JOHN  HALL  INGHAM 

"AMERICA" 

My  country !   'tis  of  thee, 
Sweet  land  of  liberty, 

Of  thee  I  sing; 
Land  where  my  fathers  died, 
Land  of  the  Pilgrims'  pride, 
From  every  mountain  side 

Let  freedom  ring! 

My  native  country,  thee, 
Land  of  the  noble,  free, 

Thy  name  I  love; 
I  love  thy  rocks  and  rills, 
Thy  woods  and  templed  hills, 
My  heart  with  rapture  thrills 

Like  that  above. 

Let  music  swell  the  breeze, 
And  ring  from  all  the  trees 

Sweet  freedom's  song: 
Let  mortal  tongues  awake, 
Let  all  that  breathe  partake, 
Let  rocks  their  silence  break, 

The  sound  prolong. 

Our  fathers'  God,  to  Thee, 
Author  of  liberty, 

To  Thee  we  sing: 
Long  may  our  land  be  bright 
With  freedom's  holy  light; 
Protect  us  by  Thy  might, 

Great  God,  our  King. 

— S.  F.  SMITH.     1832 


BENEDICTION 

By  the 
RIGHT  REVEREND  CHAUNCEY  BUNCE  BREWSTER,  D.D. 


15 


HISTORICAL  ADDRESS 

By  WILLISTON  WALKER 

December  21,  1920 

We  are  gathered  here  to-day,  a  part  of  a  great  com- 
pany who  during  the  past  few  weeks  have  been  observ- 
ing the  three-hundredth  anniversary  of  the  landing  of 
the  Pilgrims.  Celebrations  of  momentous  significance, 
with  distinguished  speakers,  and  often  with  generous 
planning,  have  been  held,  and  are  being  held,  not  merely 
in  the  principal  cities  of  this  country  but  in  Great 
Britain  and  in  Holland.  Leyden,  where  the  Pilgrims 
made  their  home  under  the  protection  of  the  Dutch 
government,  and  the  older  Plymouth,  from  which  they 
sailed  as  the  final  port  from  which  to  begin  their  momen- 
tous voyage,  have  been  in  particular  the  scene  of  note- 
worthy commemorations. 

Such  a  wide  extent  of  celebrations  in  so  many  dif- 
ferent countries  implies  an  unusual  interest  in  this  three- 
hundredth  anniversary,  and  the  existence  of  reasons  for 
this  general  acclaim  of  more  than  customary  signifi- 
cance. The  founders  of  any  long-enduring  state  com- 
mand grateful  recollection  whatever  may  have  been  the 
motives  that  may  have  led  to  their  resultful  immigra- 
tion, and  however  unromantic  may  have  been  the  causes 
which  induced  them  to  seek  new  homes.  But  in  the 
case  of  the  Pilgrims  a  perennial  interest  attaches  by 
reason  of  the  picturesqueness  of  their  endeavor  and  a 
significance  inheres  in  their  enterprise  on  account  of  the 
motives  and  aims  which  induced  their  great  adventure. 

17 


The  general  features  of  the  history  of  the  Pilgrim 
enterprise  are  so  familiar  that  it  is  not  necessary  on  this 
occasion  to  recount  them  in  detail.  Every  school  boy 
and  school  girl  knows,  or  should  know,  the  outstanding 
facts  of  Pilgrim  story.  The  speaker  will  therefore 
recount  simply  in  the  most  cursory  way  the  more  obvi- 
ous features  of  this  well-known  tale.  England  had 
witnessed  repeated  and  far-reaching  religious  changes 
during  the  sixteenth  century.  Its  original  Roman 
Catholicism  had  been  transformed  by  that  "tyrant 
under  legal  form,"  Henry  the  Vlllth.  into  a  polity 
and  manner  of  worship  in  which  the  system,  while  re- 
maining essentially  Roman  in  doctrine,  had  rejected 
the  authority  of  the  pope  and  substituted  for  it  the 
Tudor  sovereignty,  had  confiscated  monastic  founda- 
tions, and  had  given  to  the  people  the  Bible  in  the  Eng- 
lish tongue.  The  succeeding  brief  administration  in 
the  name  of  Edward  the  Vlth.,  had  ordained  the  use 
of  a  liturgy  in  English,  and  had  enforced  doctrinal 
creeds  of  a  decidedly  Protestant  character,  only  to  be 
succeeded,  under  Queen  Mary,  by  the  restoration  of 
the  Roman  authority  and  the  reestablishment  of  the 
older  form  of  worship,  though  without  the  restoration 
to  their  former  owners  of  the  confiscated  ecclesiastical 
foundations.  With  Elizabeth,  governmental  authority 
had  swung  in  the  Protestant  direction.  The  liturgy  was 
again  put  into  English,  the  Queen  was  now  supreme 
governor  of  the  church,  and  by  her  nomination  its  bish- 
ops were  appointed.  Queen  Elizabeth,  who  was  herself 
without  profound  religious  convictions,  was  of  remark- 
able political  gifts,  which  she  employed  to  the  utmost 
in  this  struggle.  Her  task  was  one  of  exceeding  diffi- 
culty. The  majority  of  her  subjects  were  unquestion- 

18 


ably  Roman  Catholic  in  sympathy  at  the  beginning  of 
her  reign,  while  a  strong  Protestant  minority  desired 
to  secure  an  earnest  Protestant  preaching  ministry  in 
every  parish,  and  the  abandonment  of  a  number  of 
remaining  Roman  usages.  To  accede  to  their  wishes 
seemed  dangerous  to  the  Queen  from  a  political  point 
of  view ;  it  appeared  much  wiser,  in  her  judgment,  that 
all  who  would  should  quietly  accept  the  new  ecclesiasti- 
cal requirements  whatever  their  want  of  inward  acqui- 
escence. Hence  the  Queen,  and  the  bishops  as  her 
agents,  repressed  all  innovations  beyond  those  which 
she  was  willing  to  sanction,  and  hence  the  "Puritans," 
as  those  who  desired  such  further  changes  were  soon 
called,  felt  the  heavy  hand  of  authority.  Most  Puri- 
tans, however  desirous  of  what  they  deemed  further 
reform,  were  willing  to  wait  for  its  accomplishment  by 
the  government,  meanwhile  agitating  for  governmental 
action  and  introducing  such  changes  as  might  be  pos- 
sible. The  more  radical  of  the  Puritan  party  were  not 
content  with  this  waiting  policy.  They  believed  that 
God  had  revealed  in  the  New  Testament  a  pattern  of 
what  His  church  should  be  in  membership,  organization 
and  government.  To  this  model  they  believed  that  the 
State  Church  did  not  conform.  It  was,  in  their  judg- 
ment, the  duty,  therefore,  of  Christian  men  to  come 
out  from  the  State  Church  and  to  organize  on  what 
they  thought  the  divinely  appointed  plan.  By  their 
opponents  these  radicals  were  naturally  nicknamed 
"Separatists." 

It  was  from  a  small  group  of  these  Separatists  dwell- 
ing mostly  in  the  country  region  about  140  miles  north 
of  London,  on  the  track  of  the  great  road  from  London 
to  York,  that  that  portion  of  the  Separatist  movement 

19 


came  to  which  we  give  the  name  Pilgrim.  How  these 
men  and  women  came  to  feel  the  Separatist  impulse 
more  strongly  than  the  inhabitants  of  most  other  sec- 
tions of  England,  is  a  problem  which  the  inadequate 
.state  of  our  knowledge  renders  it  as  yet  difficult  to 
answer.  Bradford  gives  the  probable  explanation  that 
it  was  through  the  zeal  of  several  radical  Puritan 
preachers  that  the  Separatist  fire  was  kindled,  and  there 
is  no  doubt  that  the  Separatist  movement  in  the  region 
indicated  was  fostered  by  the  labors  of  several  remark- 
able men,  among  whom  may  be  mentioned  as  in  the 
first  rank,  Rev.  Richard  Clifton,  rector  of  Babworth; 
Rev.  John  Smyth,  once  a  minister  of  the  Church  of 
England,  who  had  adopted  the  Separatist  position  and 
was  advocating  Separatist  principles  in  Gainsborough 
by  1605 -or  1606;  as  well  as  by  John  Robinson,  recently 
shown  to  be  a  native  of  Sturton-le-Steeple  in  the  region, 
and  a  fellow  of  Corpus  Christi  College,  Cambridge, 
who  had  performed  ministerial  service  in  Norwich ;  and 
by  a  layman,  William  Brewster,  who  held  the  office  of 
postmaster  at  Scrooby,  on  the  Great  North  Road,  and 
who  dipped  deeply  into  his  pocket  to  defray  the  ex- 
penses of  such  preaching  as  he  approved.  Babworth, 
Gainsborough,  Scrooby,  Sturton  and  Austerfield,  are 
all  in  near  geographical  relation  to  each  other.  Here, 
through  the  influence  of  these  men  and  that  of  their 
associates  a  Separatist  congregation  was  formed  about 
1606,  which  speedily  divided  for  safety  or  convenience 
into  two  groups,  one  meeting  in  Gainsborough  under 
the  leadership  of  Smyth,  and  the  other  in  Scrooby 
which  enjoyed  the  guidance  of  Clifton,  Robinson  and 
Brewster,  and  of  which  William  Bradford  was  a 
youthful  member. 

20 


Opposition  soon  counselled  emigration.  That  hos- 
tility, it  has  been  claimed  by  a  recent  student  of  Pil- 
grim history,  was  due  to  the  antagonism  of  neighbors, 
rather  than  that  of  the  ecclesiastical  authorities,  but 
most  scholars  still  believe,  with  Bradford,  that  ecclesi- 
astical opposition  was  the  principal  factor,  though  there 
is  no  inherent  improbability  in  the  presence  of  both 
elements  of  discomfort. 

At  all  events  the  two  congregations  made  their  way 
speedily  to  the  more  friendly  atmosphere  of  Amsterdam, 
where  Smyth's  following  ran  its  somewhat  chequered 
and  individual  course,  but  from  which  the  development 
of  the  English  Baptist  Churches  in  part  traces  its 
origin. 

The  Scrooby  congregation,  led  by  the  cautious  Rob- 
inson, and  believing  an  independent  existence  more 
favorable,  found  a  home  in  Ley  den  in  1609,  and  there 
flourished  in  modest  fashion,  increased  by  some  acces- 
sions from  England,  and  engaged  in  rather  humble 
handiwork,  but  enjoying  the  remarkable  spiritual  guid- 
ance of  Robinson,  who  sweetened  and  ripened  with  the 
passing  years. 

The  Leyden  exiles  felt  themselves  still  English.  They 
dreaded  absorption  in  an  alien  nationality,  and  further- 
more they  were  moved  by  a  strong  missionary  hope  that 
they  might  plant  what  they  believed  to  be  the  institu- 
tions of  the  Gospel,  if  not  in  England  itself,  from  which 
they  felt  barred,  at  least  on  English  soil  in  the  new 
lands  across  the  sea.  Then  followed  earnest  debate  as 
to  where  they  might  locate.  Guiana  had  its  advocates. 
The  fact  that  the  London  branch  of  the  Virginia  Com- 
pany was  looking  for  settlers,  and  in  its  eagerness  might 
overlook  ecclesiastical  differences,  as  well  as  furnish  sub- 

21 


stantial  and  indispensable  pecuniary  help,  led  to  pro- 
tracted negotiations  which  resulted  in  a  determination 
of  the  younger  and  more  physically  vigorous  minority 
of  the  congregation  to  undertake  the  momentous  voy- 
age. Next  came  their  departure  from  Holland  in  the 
misnamed  Speedwell,  the  unsatisfactory  negotiations 
with  the  London  partners  who  had  been  persuaded  to 
finance  the  enterprise,  the  final  sailing  in  the  Mayflower, 
from  the  English  Plymouth  on  what  by  our  calendar 
would  be  the  sixteenth  of  September,  the  arrival  in  what 
we  now  know  as  Provincetown  Harbor  on  November 
twentieth,  the  signing  of  the  famous  "Mayflower  Com- 
pact" a  day  later,  since  the  Pilgrims  found  themselves 
without  the  jurisdiction  where  they  expected  to  be,  and 
must  provide  for  civil  order, — all  followed  by  the  land- 
ing and  the  beginning  of  the  settlement  in  Plymouth 
on  December  twenty-first. 

Of  the  difficulties  experienced  in  making  provision 
for  shelter  and  food,  of  the  mortality  of  that  first  ter- 
rible winter,  of  perils  from  the  Indians  and  from  false 
brethren,  of  painful  negotiations  with  the  London  part- 
ners, and  of  the  struggle  of  the  colony  to  slowly-won 
independence  and  self-support,  we  have  graphic  and 
familiar  accounts  from  the  pen  of  Governor  William 
Bradford.  Little  can  be  added  to  the  picturesqtieness 
of  the  story,  as  he  tells  it,  though  historical  investiga- 
tion has  busied  itself  now  for  three-quarters  of  a  century 
and  has  filled  in  many  details  omitted  by  him  from  the 
picture.  Thanks  to  these  patient  labors  we  know  the 
men  and  women  who  came  on  the  Mayflower  better 
than  has  any  generation  subsequent  to  their  own.  The 
chief  recent  contribution  to  their  story  is  through  the 
recognition,  thanks  especially  to  the  examination  of 

22 


Probate  Records,  that  the  Pilgrim  Colony,  after  it  got 
on  its  feet  when  the  initial  decade  of  struggle  was  past, 
was  in  a  larger  degree  an  economic  success  than  was 
formerly  supposed.  Compared  with  later  settlements  in 
Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  that  material  prosperity 
was  meagre,  but  it  was  real  to  a  degree  not  generally 
recognized  till  recently. 

Picturesque  as  was  the  Pilgrim  immigration,  and 
dramatic  as  were  the  circumstances  of  the  long  voyage 
and  of  the  establishment  of  homes  in  the  wilderness, 
that  significance  is  heightened  by  the  recollection  that 
they  were  plain  men  and  women  of  the  English  country- 
side. They  had  among  those  who  crossed  the  Atlantic 
none  of  conspicuous  social  position,  of  considerable 
learning,  or  political  or  military  distinction.  They  were 
furthermore  a  company  of  youngerly  men  and  women. 
The  older  members  of  the  Leyden  congregation  had 
purposely  been  left  behind  as  physically  inadequate  for 
its  strain.  All  the  more  clearly  by  reason  of  the  absence 
of  adventitious  aids,  the  real  significance  of  their  enter- 
prise stands  forth.  It  is  to  some  of  the  elements  of 
that  abiding  importance  that  attention  may  appropri- 
ately be  directed. 

The  outstanding  fact  regarding  the  Pilgrims  is  that 
they  came  across  the  Atlantic  in  obedience  to  the  dictates 
of  conscience.  It  was  no  hope  of  material  gain,  no  hope 
of  bettering  their  fortunes  from  a  wordly  point  of  view 
that  moved  them.  They  gave  up  home  with  all  its 
associations,  its  comforts  and  the  satisfactions  of  wonted 
relationships,  for  self-imposed  exile  in  the  hard  condi- 
tions of  a  foreign  land  and  among  people  of  an  alien 
tongue,  and  they  went  on  from  Holland  to  carve  out  a 
place  for  themselves  in  the  wilderness  with  all  the  sacri- 

23 


fices  which  the  great  adventure  involved.  They  were 
by  no  means  the  only  company  of  men  and  women  who 
have  made  the  effort  for  similar  motives;  but  men 
honor,  and  rightly  honor,  those  who  thus  put  the  claims 
of  what  they  deem  duty  above  those  of  material  advan- 
tage. It  sheds  the  light  of  glory  of  high  sacrifice  on 
their  endeavor,  as  on  the  path  of  those  who  counted  not 
their  lives  dear  to  themselves  that  they  might  accom- 
plish what  they  .believed  to  be  their  God-assigned  task. 

Yet  here  a  frequent  mistake  is  encountered.  It  is 
often  asserted  that  the  Pilgrims  came  to  New  England 
in  quest  of  religious  liberty,  and  they  are  praised  as 
pioneers  in  a  freedom  which  the  present  age  justly 
prizes.  This  is  to  ascribe  to  them  a  distinction  which 
they  did  not  possess  and  to  which  few  in  their  age  could 
lay  claim.  Their  aim  was  more  simple  and  concrete. 
They  were  unable  to  organize  their  worship,  to  consti- 
tute their  church,  and  regulate  their  religious  life  in 
England  as  their  consciences  dictated  and  as  they  be- 
lieved alone  to  be  right.  They  had  no  give  and  take 
feeling  that  they  could  go  one  way  in  such  important 
matters  while  others  with  equal  honesty  could  go  an- 
other. Doubtless  instances  can  be  cited  from  their  his- 
tory of  humane  and  kindly  actions  towards  individuals 
of  beliefs  differing  from  their  own.  They  were  not 
fanatics  or  without  their  full  share  of  the  milk  of  human 
kindness.  Yet  as  a  general  proposition  it  is  certain  that 
they  thought  their  own  the  only  right  way,  and  that  the 
freedom  they  sought  in  coming  to  New  England  was 
freedom  to  walk  in  it. 

Undoubtedly  the  ultimate  outcome  of  the  Pilgrim 
movement,  viewed  in  the  long  vista  of  centuries,  was 
favorable  to  the  attainment  of  that  religious  liberty 

24 


which  America  now  enjoys ;  but  that  result  was  an  un- 
intended consequence  rather  than  an  end  which  the  Pil- 
grims deliberately  sought.  American  religious  liberty, 
when  it  came,  was  the  consequence  of  the  necessity  im- 
posed on  various  forms  of  faith,  brought  by  various 
immigrations  to  these  shores  that  they  find  some  way  of 
working  side  by  side  in  common  political  allegiance. 
That  the  Pilgrim  point  of  view  was  strongly  represented 
in  America  along  side  of  other  religious  ideals  ultimately 
contributed  powerfully  to  the  development  of  religious 
liberty,  but  that  liberty,  in  the  form  of  a  general  tolera- 
tion of  differing  religious  convictions  was  no  part  of 
the  Pilgrim  ideal,  and  to  claim  them  as  thus  in  advance 
of  their  age  is  to  assert  too  much  in  their  behalf. 

The  Pilgrims  had  a  simpler  philosophy  than  any  ab- 
stract love  of  freedom.  They  had  not  the  years  of  expe- 
rience in  the  mutual  companionship  of  divergent  faiths 
that  can  alone  induce  such  toleration.  They  held  that 
God  is  to  be  obeyed,  and  they  did  not  question  that  right- 
thinking  men  should  understand  God's  commands  in  the 
same  way  that  they  did.  In  comparison  with  His  will 
all  of  human  enactment  contrary  in  their  judgment 
thereto  was  to  be  disregarded,  no  matter  what  might  be 
the  personal  cost.  This  principle  of  obedience  to  a 
true  and  higher  law  introduced  a  remarkable  simplicity 
and  directness  into  their  lives.  Their  goal  was  clearly 
apprehended  and  resolutely  sought.  There  was  little 
chance  for  wavering  or  the  pursuit  of  divergent  aims. 
It  is  this  devotion  to  a  high  and  unselfish  ideal  that 
lends  a  dignity  to  what  they  did,  however  humble  their 
external  surroundings  and  gives  them  a  permanent  sig- 
nificance. This  apprehension  may  not  in  all  respects  be 
ours.  It  is  hard  for  our  altered  age,  with  its  modified 

25 


standards,  to  enter  into  full  sympathy  of  appreciation 
with  those  who  made  the  maintenance  of  a  particular 
form  of  Church  organization  a  prime  purpose  of  life. 
We  find  it  hard  to  appreciate  their  motives,  and  not  to 
look  upon  them  as  narrow  and  one-sided  in  their  inter- 
pretation ;  but,  after  all,  it  is  not  their  particular  inter- 
pretation but  their  larger  purpose  that  we  must  take 
into  consideration  in  estimating  their  character.  That 
fundamental  endeavor  stands  clearly  revealed.  That 
they  sought  to  do  the  will  of  God,  fully  and  unreserv- 
edly, sheds  on  their  career  an  abiding  luster. 

Naturally  they  sought  some  definite  standard  in  which 
they  believed  the  will  of  God  to  be  revealed,  by  which 
they  could  try  their  conduct,  and  to  which  they  were  to 
conform.  That  standard,  they  found,  in  common  with 
others  of  their  age  and  race,  in  the  Bible.  To  them,  as 
to  other  Englishmen  of  the  period,  though  not  all  others 
followed  it  so  unreservedly  and  of  set  purpose,  it  was 
the  very  word  of  God,  divinely  given  to  men  as  the  sole 
and  perfect  rule  of  faith  and  practice.  Hence  the  Pil- 
grims were  above  all  else  Biblicists.  To  the  teachings 
of  Scripture  as  they  understood  them,  they  would  con- 
form not  only  their  own  conduct  but  that  of  all  over 
whom  they  had  influence.  From  that  divine  record 
they  would  derive  not  only  all  doctrine  as  to  God's 
purposes  for  this  life  and  that  to  come,  but  all  guid- 
ance in  the  proper  ordering  of  church  and  state.  Not 
that  they  thought  all  apprehension  of  the  meanings  of 
that  transcendent  divine  revelation  had  been  reached  by 
their  leaders  or  their  generation.  John  Robinson  had 
told  them  that  "the  Lord  had  more  truth  and  light  yet 
to  break  forth  out  of  His  holy  word";  but  sufficient 
was  theirs  already  to  make  plain  the  path  of  duty,  of 
aspiration  and  of  endeavor. 


Yet  the  Pilgrims  loved  what  was  best  in  their  own 
country  with  devotion.  One  main  reason  for  their  emi- 
gration from  Holland  was  a  fear  that  their  children 
might  lose  their  English  heritage  and  become  absorbed 
in  an  alien  population.  They  desired  to  live  under 
their  native  flag  and  to  introduce  into  their  administra- 
tion the  laws  and  customs  of  the  land  of  their  nativity. 
Their  descendants  were,  with  time,  and  under  the  influ- 
ence of  altered  conditions  of  climate,  business,  social 
conditions  and  developing  political  ideals  to  seek  as 
earnestly  separation  from  the  parent  country.  That 
time  was  still  far  in  the  future  when  the  Pilgrim  set- 
tlers came  to  America.  To  them  England  was  still 
home,  even  if  a  home  which  had  cast  them  forth,  and 
they  looked  to  it  with  affection  and  brought  with  them 
as  much  of  law  and  custom  as  they  could  retain  in 
obedience  to  their  overruling  test  of  conformity  to  what 
they  believed  to  be  the  divine  commands.  It  was  in  no 
politically  hostile  or  rebellious  mood  that  they  crossed 
the  Atlantic. 

Besides  all  their  peculiar  freightage  which  the  Pil- 
grims brought  with  them  they  carried  much  that  was 
distinctively  of  the  general  system  of  the  religious 
thought  in  which  they  had  been  trained.  No  group  of 
men  can  stand  wholly  alone,  or  be  uninfluenced  by  the 
great  intellectual  trend  of  their  age  and  environment. 
In  their  religious  outlook  the  Pilgrims  were  primarily 
advanced  and  consistent  Calvinists.  Much  that  is  often 
attributed  to  them  as  individual  and  peculiar  is  really 
part  of  their  common  heritage.  Whether  Calvinism  is 
liked  or  disliked,  Avhether  it  is  true  or  false,  whether  it 
is  adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  present  age  or  not,  are 
not  here  the  questions.  Our  endeavor  is  to  understand 
the  motives  of  the  Pilgrims  as  they  were,  and  those 

27 


cannot  be  comprehended  without  a  recognition  of  their 
inheritance. 

The  first  great  element  in  their  conviction  was  their 
conception  of  God.  God  was  to  them  the  greatest  of 
all  sovereigns,  before  whose  majesty  any  earthly  sov- 
ereignty was  but  the  puny  shadow  of  a  passing  cloud. 
His  will  has  disposed  all  that  exists,  or  may  exist, 
from  eternity  to  eternity.  His  providence  extends  to 
all  events,  great  and  small  alike.  He  is  the  source  of 
all  good  everywhere.  Without  Him  nothing  can 
prosper.  Against  His  will  the  strongest  of  merely 
human  sovereigns  lift  their  plans  in  vain.  In  knowl- 
edge of  Him  is  man's  highest  attainment  and  only 
permanent  blessing.  Man  lives,  as  the  Puritan  poet 
phrased  the  thought  a  decade  later  than  the  landing  of 
the  Pilgrims: 

"As  ever  in  my  great  Task  Master's  eye." 

He   dwells   watched  over,   led,   disciplined,   and  held 
accountable  by  God. 

No  one  can  deny  the  majesty  of  this  thought  of  God, 
or  deny  the  dignity  and  significance  that  it  gave  to  those 
controlled  by  its  power.  Its  simplicity,  its  greatness, 
its  all-reaching  immensity,  shed  in  lesser  measure  its 
reflection  on,  and  gave  a  largeness  to,  those  dominated 
by  it.  This  world  is  no  hap-hazard  sport  of  circum- 
stances, nor  were  they  who  acted  in  it,  humble  though 
they  might  be  in  social  station,  the  mere  puppets  of 
blind  fate  living  out  a  brief  and  purposeless  existence. 
They  were  all  included  in  God's  far-reaching  and  im- 
mutable purpose,  and,  whatever  their  personal  trials 
and  disappointments,  His  will  regarding  them  and  their 
enterprise  would  be  acomplished. 

28 


Closely  associated  with  this  great  thought  of  God, 
was  the  Pilgrim  judgment  of  man.  This  too  was  their 
inheritance.  That  estimate  of  man  was  not  flattering 
to  his  natural  pride.  By  nature,  since  the  fall  of  Adam, 
he  is  evil,  of  himself  wholly  incapable  of  accomplishing 
that  which  is  worthy  of  divine  commendation.  But, 
from  another  point  of  view,  this  conception  of  man  was 
among  the  loftiest  ever  presented.  He  may,  by  divine 
grace,  become  a  fellow-worker  with  God,  a  real,  though 
humble  partner  in  the  accomplishment  of  the  divine 
purpose.  He  is  chosen  of  God,  if  God  chooses  him  at 
all,  as  an  instrument  by  which  the  divine  will  may  be 
accomplished.  This  touch  of  the  divine  gives  to  the 
meanest  life  a  dignity  and  a  worth  of  eternal  signifi- 
cance. None  is  so  humble  that  it  may  not  be  said  of 
him  that  God  has  a  place  for  him  in  the  everlasting 
divine  purpose, — a  place  vital,  necessary,  determined 
and  predestined. 

This  conception  of  man's  relation  to  the  divine  plan 
inevitably  shaded  into  the  conception  of  man's  duty. 
That  fundamental  obligation  is  to  make  the  will  of  God 
regnant  as  far  as  man's  power  extends,  first  of  all  over 
his  own  life  and  then  over  the  lives  and  conduct  of  his 
associates.  It  is  a  conception  of  lofty  nobility.  It 
made  the  Pilgrim  strenuous  with  himself  and  with 
others.  It  has  rendered  him  and  his  descendants 
largely  reformers.  Yet  it  undoubtedly  had  its  un- 
lovely side,  as  when  the  generally  kindly  William 
Bradford,  in  the  second  year  of  the  Plymouth  colony, 
forbade  the  festive  celebration  of  Christmas,  then  well- 
nigh  universal  in  the  English  homeland;  and  it  has 
given  point  in  times  since  to  that  alleged  intrusiveness 
in  the  affairs  of  others  of  what  has  been  styled  "The 

29 


New  England  conscience."  At  its  best  it  made  the 
Pilgrim  a  man  who  took  life  seriously,  though  by  no 
means  necessarily  gloomily,  and  who  felt  that  others 
should  do  so  also.  It  made  him  a  worker  in  all  that 
made  for  the  betterment  of  the  world  as  he  understood 
that  betterment.  The  Pilgrim  was  no  misanthrope,  or 
enemy  of  good  cheer  on  what  he  deemed  suitable  occa- 
sions. The  harvests  of  1621  and  1623  were  duly  hon- 
ored, and  our  annual  Thanksgiving  traces  its  origin  to 
these  at  first  special  and  occasional  celebrations. 

From  this  conviction  that  the  Christian's  funda- 
mental duty  is  to  make  the  will  of  God  regnant  flowed 
a  particular  interpretation  from  which  the  present  age 
has  widely  departed.  It  was  the  belief  that  the  state 
owes  support  and  protection  to  the  church.  While 
state  and  church  were  never  identified  in  Plymouth, 
yet  it  was  felt  that  the  state  should  defend  the  church 
from  false  doctrine,  and  see  that  its  worship  was  suit- 
ably maintained.  Yet  while  the  Pilgrims  undoubtedly 
held  this  conviction,  they  were  less  strenuous  in  its 
application  than  most  of  their  time,  and  their  record 
for  severity  in  the  name  of  religion  contrasts  to  their 
advantage,  from  the  viewpoint  of  the  present  age,  with 
that,  for  instance,  of  their  Puritan  neighbors  in  Mas- 
sachusetts. It  would  be  unjust,  however,  to  attribute 
to  them  an  enlightenment  which  almost  none  then  pos- 
sessed, and  the  general  dominance  of  which  was  to  be 
far  in  the  future  of  their  time.  Something  of  this  good 
record,  as  it  would  now  be  thought,  was  due  to  their 
situation  on  one  side  of  what  became  the  main  routes 
of  settlement  and  trade  in  New  England.  They  were 
not  so  severely  tried  as  some  of  their  neighbors. 

The  Pilgrims  were  peculiarly  favored  by  their  out- 

30 


ward  circumstances  for  the  development  of  a  democ- 
racy. There  were,  indeed,  distinctions  among  them. 
Some  had  become  members  of  the  expedition  for  hire, 
and  were  on  the  Mayflower  as  in  various  capacities  of 
service ;  but  there  were  none  who  could  claim  rank  as  of 
the  nobility  of  England  in  the  party.  They  were  a 
homogeneous,  self-respecting  group  for  the  most  part, 
of  hard-working  country  folk,  who  had  been  schooled 
in  the  industrial  life  of  a  considerable  city,  without 
attaining  any  marked  differences  of  financial  status. 
The  heads  of  the  Pilgrim  households  met  on  a  plane 
of  unusual  equality.  They  were,  furthermore,  trained 
in  the  administration  of  the  Church,  and  recognized  as 
the  door  of  admission  to  Church-fellowship  a  mutual 
covenant  between  the  disciple,  his  fellow-members  and 
his  Lord.  It  was,  therefore,  the  natural  expression  of 
the  social  status  and  of  the  religious  convictions  of  the 
Pilgrims  alike,  when  finding  themselves  in  Province- 
town  Harbor,  outside  the  jurisdiction  which  they  had 
expected  before  leaving  England,  and  therefore  with- 
out legal  warrant,  they  bound  themselves,  on  Novem- 
ber 21,  1620,  by  the  Mayflower  Compact.  By  this 
constitutive  document  they: 

covenant  and  combine  our  selves  togeather  into  a  civill  body  poli- 
tick ....  and  by  vertue  hearof  to  enacte,  constitute,  and  frame 
such  just  and  equall  lawes,  ordinances,  acts,  constitutions,  and  offices, 
from  time  to  time,  as  shall  be  thought  most  meete  and  convenient 
for  ye  generall  good  of  ye  Colonie,  unto  which  we  promise  all  due 
submission  and  obedience. 

Doubtless  the  full  consequences  of  this  step  were  not 
thought  out.  They  were  not  a  constitutional  conven- 
tion deliberating  as  to  the  fitting  form  of  a  great  com- 
monwealth. They  had  no  intention  of  abrogating  the 

31 


laws  of  England,  subjects  of  whose  kings  they  felt 
themselves  to  be.  They  were  a  small  company,  far 
from  home,  on  a  desolate  shore,  on  the  edge  of  a  vast 
wilderness,  who  felt  the  need  of  government,  and  of 
the  order  which  government  alone  can  secure.  They 
constituted  themselves  a  civil  body  politic,  as  they 
formed  themselves  a  church,  by  a  mutual  agreement. 
Yet  in  so  doing  they  showed  themselves  highly  demo- 
cratic, they  helped  to  lay  the  foundations  of  American 
institutions  in  democracy,  and  contributed  to  the  forces 
that  were  to  work  together  to  make  democracy,  in  due 
time,  the  fundamental  policy  of  the  American  republic. 
In  regard  to  one  final  Puritan  characteristic,  em- 
phasis on  education,  the  Pilgrims  certainly  were  back- 
ward. They  had  among  them  only  one  liberally  edu- 
cated man,  Elder  William  Brewster,  and  even  he, 
though  he  had  matriculated  in  Cambridge  University, 
had  not  gone  on  to  graduation.  Nor  did  any  settler  of 
even  similar  scholastic  training  join  the  Pilgrim  com- 
monwealth till  the  coming  of  Rev.  Ralph  Smith  in  1629. 
Though  Harvard  College  graduated  its  first  class  in 
1642,  few  of  its  early  students  were  from  Plymouth 
Colony.  Though  doubtless  there  was  elementary  house- 
hold teaching  from  the  first,  as  they  probably  had  al- 
ready had  in  Holland,  it  was  not  until  1662  that  formal 
statutory  provision  was  made  for  instruction.  Intima- 
tions in  the  Records  imply  that  public  interest  had  been 
aroused  and  schools  had  come  into  existence  before  that 
time ;  but,  in  this  important  respect  the  contrast  between 
the  Pilgrim  settlement,  and  the  early  significant  pro- 
visions for  education  in  the  Puritan  colonies  to  the 
northward  and  westward,  is  striking,  and  to  the  disad- 
vantage of  the  Pilgrims.  The  explanation  is  to  be 

32 


found  in  the  relatively  humble  origin  of  the  Pilgrims, 
and  in  their  relative  lack  of  men  of  intellectual  leader- 
ship. Had  Robinson,  their  beloved  and  learned  pastor 
in  Leyden  been  permitted  to  cross  the  Atlantic  the 
story  might  well  have  been  different.  New  England 
needed  in  this  respect  to  have  the  courage  of  the  Pil- 
grims supplemented  by  the  educational  zeal  of  the  later 
Puritan  immigration  before  it  could  take  on  its  char- 
acteristic development.  In  claiming  virtues  for  the 
Pilgrims,  and  they  are  justly  praised  for  many  excel- 
lent qualities,  service  to  education  cannot  be  enumerated 
in  the  list.  That  this  was  so  was  doubtless  more  the 
misfortune  of  external  circumstances  than  any  deliberate 
rejection  of  educational  claims. 

The  survey  of  the  chief  characteristics  of  the  Pilgrims 
which  has  been  made  shows  clearly  their  abiding  claims 
to  the  respect  of  later  generations.  They  were  plain 
men  and  women,  not  eminent  for  such  talents  as  com- 
mand large  success  in  business,  in  the  field  of  politics, 
or  in  the  realm  of  scholarship.  Their  financial  resources 
were  very  meager.  In  many  important  respects  there 
was  little  in  their  enterprise  to  promise  success.  Yet 
they  were  marked  by  industry,  by  a  high  sense  of  the 
importance  of  the  undertaking  in  which  they  were  en- 
gaged, and  by  a  devotion  to  its  achievements  that  was 
not  daunted  by  difficulties.  Above  all  they  were  ani- 
mated by  a  unity  of  purpose  and  by  a  high  sense  of 
divine  guidance  which  can  come  only  from  religion. 
They  walked  their  difficult  way  as  "seeing  the  invisible." 
That  conviction  gave  to  them  strength  and  courage. 

From  the  solidity  and  sincerity  with  which  they  held 
these  principles  came  a  tenacity  of  purpose,  a  trust  in 
God,  and  a  willingness  to  meet  constant  and  bitter  dis- 

33 


couragement  which,  as  these  perils  were  gradually  over- 
come, made  their  venture  an  increasing  economic  success. 
Their  agreement  with  the  London  Merchant  Adven- 
turers was  a  disappointment  to  both  parties.  Their 
attempts  to  send  profitable  cargoes  to  England  were  a 
failure.  By  1627,  the  partnership  with  the  Merchant 
Adventurers  was  dissolved  on  terms  which  left  the  Pil- 
grims deeply  in  debt,  yet  masters  of  their  further  for- 
tunes. They  had  shown  that  settlers  could  live,  govern 
themselves  and  maintain  themselves  economically  in 
New  England.  Their  debts  were  ultimately  paid. 
Their  institutions,  both  in  Church  and  State,  showed 
ability  to  live.  Their  great  demonstration  was  that 
trans- Atlantic  colonization  in  New  England  could  be 
self-supporting,  and  even  more,  it  could  be  a  modest 
success.  They  blazed  the  road  for  all  who  came  after 
them.  Without  them  that  further  and  larger  settle- 
ment could  not  well  have  been.  It  was  their  strong 
confidence  in  God,  their  unshakeable  conviction  that 
they  were  doing  His  will,  and  their  sense  of  His  gui- 
dance and  favor,  that  won  them  their  success. 

It  is  peculiarly  as  men  of  principle  that  they  have 
their  lesson  for  the  generations  that  have  entered  into 
their  heritage.  With  few  of  the  external  advantages 
which  such  a  labor  might  seem  to  demand,  a  company 
of  men  and  women  in  no  way  distinguished  socially, 
pecuniarily,  politically  or  educationally  above  the  aver- 
age of  the  "plain  country  folk"  of  their  day  and  gen- 
eration in  England,  they  yet  founded  the  beginning  of 
an  enduring  commonwealth,  in  the  heritage  of  which 
we  rejoice  to-day.  That  is  not  to  say  that  they  did 
not  need  the  reinforcement  of  the  much  larger,  more 
wealthy,  more  socially  eminent  and  more  educationally 

34. 


alert  Puritan  settlements  that  were  later  to  supplement 
their  work  and  into  whose  larger  life  they  were  them- 
selves ultimately  to  be  merged.  Yet  they  were  the 
pioneers.  To  them  belongs  the  distinction  of  showing 
the  way. 

A  further  and  less  tangible  demonstration  was  theirs 
in  the  realm  of  the  spirit  rather  than  in  that  of  material 
things.  They  stand  as  a  symbol  of  high  resolution,  of 
earnest  purpose,  of  dauntless  conquest  of  difficulties. 
How  fully  their  influence  as  a  spiritual  example  affected 
those  who  came  immediately  after  them  is  not  easy  to 
define.  It  cannot  have  been  without  its  heartening  sig- 
nificance. But  for  recent  generations  the  Pilgrims  have 
stood  as  the  embodiment  of  a  great  ideal,  and  as  such 
have  an  abiding  symbolic  value  among  the  forces  of  the 
spirit  which  have  given  distinction  to  American  life. 

Nor  is  their  story  without  its  perpetual  challenge  to 
their  descendants,  whether  of  the  flesh  or  of  the  spirit. 
In  their  day  they  were  found  faithful,  and  that  they 
were  what  they  were  and  did  what  they  did  has  put  us 
permanently  into  their  debt.  Shall  we,  with  our  vastly 
greater  resources,  our  immeasurably  superior  advan- 
tages, our  comparative  wealth  of  knowledge,  and  our 
abounding  variety  of  contact  with  life,  be  found  simi- 
larly simple-hearted,  direct  and  purposeful  amid  the 
perplexities  of  the  present  turmoiled  and  needy  world? 
They  did  their  work  well.  God  grant  that  those  who 
follow  us  may  have  like  reason  to  make  the  same 
honorable  affirmation  as  they  think  of  us. 


A  PUBLIC  LETTER  FROM  THE  STATE  OF 

CONNECTICUT  TO  THE  CHILDREN 

IN  HER  SCHOOLS 


Tercentenary  Anniversary  of  the  Landing  of  the 
Pilgrims  on  Plymouth  Rock 

1620—1920 

The  State  of  Connecticut  covers  a  part  of  what,  for 
some  years  before  1620,  had  been  known  as  New  Eng- 
land. The  name  "Pilgrims"  is  given  to  a  company  of 
Englishmen  who  had  been  political  refugees  in  Leyden, 
Holland,  but  in  that  year  left  Europe  for  America. 
Most  of  them  came  here  mainly  to  secure  liberty  to 
worship  God  in  their  own  way.  The  ship  that  brought 
them  was  named  the  Mayflower.  Before  they  landed 
they  signed  a  paper,  called  the  "Mayflower  compact." 
In  it  they  agreed  to  constitute  themselves  a  Colony,  and 
to  enact  from  time  to  time  such  just  and  equal  laws  as 
should  be  thought  most  for  the  general  good. 

This  was  the  first  government  in  the  history  of  man- 


kind  avowedly  founded  on  the  principle  that  all 
governments  derive  their  just  powers  from  the  consent 
of  the  governed, — a  truth  long  afterwards  stated,  July 
4,  1776,  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence  of  the 
United  States. 

The  Pilgrims  landed  on  December  21,  1620.  It  was 
on  a  rocky  shore  in  what  is  now  known  as  Plymouth, 
Massachusetts.  The  season  was  the  dead  of  winter. 
The  country  was  owned  by  England  and  they  were  all 
Englishmen.  It  was  inhabited  only  by  a  few  red 
Indians,  who  sold  them,  from  time  to  time,  their  title  to 
the  possession  of  the  land  along  the  shore. 

The  Pilgrims  set  up  such  a  government  as  was 
described  in  the  Mayflowrer  compact,  and  named  it  the 
New  Plymouth  Colony.  They  elected  a  Governor  from 
among  themselves  and  also  assistants  for  him. 

In  England  they  had  been  called  "Separatists," 
because  they  had  separated  themselves  from  the  estab- 
lished church,  and  chose  their  own  ministers.  Only 
church  members  could  vote  at  Colony  elections. 

In  Connecticut,  which  also  was  another  English 
colony,  founded  a  few  years  later,  church  membership 
was  not  required  as  a  condition  of  the  right  to  vote. 

Both  colonies  had  town  meetings,  every  year,  of  all 
entitled  to  vote,  as  electors,  at  which  rules  were  made 
to  promote  good  order.  But  Connecticut  differed 
from  Plymouth  in  having  a  full  written  Constitution,  to 
which  any  such  rules  must  conform. 

This  Constitution  was  framed  and  adopted  in  1639, 
at  a  meeting  of  the  settlers  held  at  Hartford.  It  was 
the  first  written  document  in  human  history  of  that 
nature,  setting  up  a  new  government  and  providing  in 
detail  certain  "fundamental  orders"  as  to  the  mode  of 
conducting  it. 


Before  1643  there  had  come  to  be  four  English 
colonies  in  New  England.  These  were  called  the  New 
Plymouth  Colony,  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony,  the 
Connecticut  Colony  and  the  New  Haven  Colony.  In 
1643,  they  all  joined  in  creating  a  confederation,  under 
the  name  of  the  "United  Colonies  of  New  England." 
This  lasted  until  1664. 

What,  now,  does  the  Landing  of  the  Pilgrims  in  1620 
mean  to  us  in  Connecticut? 

The  founders  of  States  have  a  place  by  themselves. 
They  make  history.  They  create  a  new  and  great 
political  institution.  They  step  forward  into  a  place 
before  untrodden.  They  set  a  precedent  for  similar 
action  in  constituting  other  governments. 

The  Pilgrims  of  Plymouth  were,  in  effect,  the 
founders  of  New  England.  When  we  set  up  a  new 
government  in  Connecticut  we  looked  to  Plymouth  for 
our  warrant  to  set  one  up  by  virtue  of  a  social  compact, 
made  by  those  whom  it  was  to  govern.  Under  such  a 
compact  the  Plymouth  settlers  had  lived  for  nineteen 
years.  The  Connecticut  settlers  had  the  benefit  of  this 
experiment  of  the  Pilgrims.  But  the  Pilgrims  had  put 
into  their  compact  a  statement  that  they  were  "loyal 
subjects"  of  the  King  of  England.  In  our  Constitu- 
tion of  1639  there  is  nothing  of  this  sort.  The  Connect- 
icut settlers  spoke  for  themselves  only,  in  voting  to 
establish  by  and  for  themselves  and  their  successors 
"one  Public  State  or  Commonwealth." 

The  Pilgrims  ran  great  risks,  and  submitted  to  great 
hardships  in  founding  their  Colony.  It  took  them 
more  than  two  months  to  make  the  voyage  across  the 
Atlantic.  Half  of  them  died  within  the  next  three 
months  for  want  of  proper  food  and  shelter.  They 


knew  what  dangers  they  had  to  encounter,  but  they 
knew  also,  as  recorded  by  their  Governor,  William 
Bradford,  in  his  history  of  their  doings,  "that  all  great 
and  honorable  actions  are  accompanied  with  great  diffi- 
culties ;  and  must  be  both  enterprised  and  overcome  with 
answerable  courages." 

This  was  the  spirit  in  which  the  Pilgrims  undertook 
their  task.  This  was  the  spirit  they  hoped  to  infuse 
into  their  successors  on  the  soil  of  New  England.  This 
was  the  spirit  in  which  they  came  to  plant  free  institu- 
tions in  what  was  then  almost  as  much  a  New  World  as 
when  Columbus  made  his  landfall  in  1492.  This  was 
the  spirit  in  admiration  of  which  we  are  to  celebrate  this 
year  the  three  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  Landing 
of  the  Pilgrims. 

THE  STATE  OF  CONNECTICUT, 
By  MAIICTJS  H.  HOLCOMB, 

Governor. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  AT  UOS  ANGELES 
THE  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 


Tliis  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below 


J£C  7 


m 


Form  L-9-15IH-3,' 


UNIVERSITY  of  CALIFORNIA 


UBKARY 


P68 

C76p  Connecticut. 
Tercentenar: 

commission  -  The 
proceedings  . . 


A  001337383 


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